Niger Assembly rejects request for special advisers

The Niger State House of Assembly has rejected the request by Governor, Abubakar Bello to increase the number of his special advisers.

The refusal is coming after the confirmation of two commissioner nominees, whose names were submitted to the Assembly by the governor.

The governor had in a letter dated July 4 sought the approval of the Assembly to appoint three additional special advisers in a bid to ensure inclusiveness and enhance service delivery.

The governor currently has 15 Special Advisers.

During its plenary sitting yesterday, the legislators through a voice note denied approval for the appointments stating that the appointments is not in the interest of the people.

Speaking to reporters after the Plenary, the spokesman of the Assembly, Hon. Shuaibu Iyah, who is the member representing Suleja Constituency, said that the denial was done in good faith, especially with the dwindling revenues of the state.

He said that the request of the Governor is not in favour of the state as the appointment of more Special Advisers would gulp more money adding that the Governor should be more considerate and bothered in paying up monies owned to pensioners and reduce the plight of the people instead of seeking to increase his cabinet.

“The House took this decision in good faith because the request of Mr Governor has fallen short of the expectation of the House. Today’s case clearly shows that honourable members are conscious of their responsibility. If we see anything not in the best interest of the public we will definitely go against it.

“These advisers will cost government a lot of money and remember that we are going through a recession where we have inadequate funds to execute certain projects. We are receiving a lot pressure especially regarding the pension issue which is yet to be resolved. The state is running out of funds to achieve developmental goals of government and the Governor is thinking about appointing more special advisers,” he said

Iyah said the refusal of the legislators to approve the governor’s request was in good faith, adding that it does not reflect that thre is a crack in the relationship between the executive and legislature as people may seem to construe.

“The decision taken by assembly is in tandem with the fundamental functions of the legislature. It is not in every situation we will give approval to any request coming from the executive. And citizens should appreciate our position on this, which shows we are not just mere rubber stamp of the executive,” he said.